camwyn | I just joined 15minuteficlets.

It's a writing exercise community. Once a week we get one word, or one picture, and we have fifteen minutes from the time we first see that word in which to write about that word/pic. I think it was originally meant for fanfic writers, but original fiction is considered OK as well. I figured I could use the extra exercise to keep in practice. The idea is to then post your fic in your LJ and link to it in a comment on the original word, or else to put the ficlet into a comment.

Anyway, that's a long and complicated way of saying I took fifteen minutes and tried to bang out some Calvin. It's a little lumpy since I've never tried to write about him before, just play him. Also, it ran headlong into my current baking hobby of sourdough, since the word for this week?

This week's word was 'cookie'. Anyway, here.

Calvin prodded suspiciously at the jar of – well, it helped to think of it as yeast-in-suspension; what it was, so far as he was concerned, was slime. Sourdough starter, slime, either one worked as far as he was concerned. The problem was that if it was slime, then he couldn't keep it in his fridge; that was where Beaner lived, and the last thing he wanted was Beaner getting the wrong idea. The sentient Chimerical slime might well think he'd found it a mate – or the corpse of one of its own kind. Neither option particularly appealed to the troll.

Damn that boggan anyway. He should've known better than to accept the jar unopened.

With a sigh he sat down at his computer, willing it to wake up without incident. For once, it did so. Come on, he thought, just let me start IE. The last thing I need right now is to have you explode on me again-

Ah there. Google. Great.

Five minutes of unhappy searching later, Calvin was convinced that the boggan who'd sold him the storage jars had decided to drive him mad. Calvin was a busy troll, dammit. These sourdough recipes took HOURS. Like, serious hours. Regular bread was something like two or three hours to rise, he remembered his mom baking bread a few times, but this? Yeesh! No wonder the Jews had to leave Egypt with only unleavened bread! You had to wait an entire day to use this damn stuff. Man, if he kept seeing numbers like that he was gonna have to flush it down the-

Sourdough chocolate chip cookies.

What the heck? He clicked the link. There- four and a half cups flour, some baking soda, salt butter Crisco sugar eggs- yup, and sourdough starter, down towards the bottom. No rising time, either, which was weird. Then again the leavening would probably kill the cultures in the jar. Maybe-

On a hunch he leaned over and sniffed at the contents of the jar. A moment later he yanked his head away, wincing. Alcohol and lactic acid. Not a good combination. On the other hand, at least he knew now- that stuff was in the recipe for texture, not leaven or flavor. All right, he could do that.

Some hours later, Calvin Burek knocked at a door in Fort Snelling. The Nocker girl who swung it open blinked in surprise at the smell wafting from the tray in his hand. "Damn," said Monica, "since when do you fucking bake?"

Calvin grinned. "Since today." He left out the part where he'd inadvertently gotten half a recipe of the stuff in his hair after trying to use a lab centrifuge for mixing purposes. "Here- cookies. For you."

Monica laughed. "Thanks!" she said brightly. "Mind if I share them? I've got a visitor." She stepped back, gesturing to the plump, dark haired woman on her couch- the boggan woman. "This is-"

"We've met," chorused Calvin and the boggan simultaneously.

Monica blinked, then shrugged. "Okay, then. Milk?"

"Please," said the boggan. Calvin merely settled himself down on a chair.

When Monica started out of the room to get the milk, the boggan leaned forward. "Mr. Burek," she said urgently, "I need to talk to you. It's about- hey, these are really good! Since when do trolls know how to bake?"

Calvin just shook his head. "Long story. What were you saying?"

"Well, you see, I inadvertently sold you the wrong set of jars. One of them had the very last sample of my grandmother's heirloom starter…"